After three straight seasons of being the last team to miss the playoffs and carrying the best record -- and longest odds -- into the draft lottery, they were in need of an attraction that would make the masses remember that the Rockets were still operating an NBA franchise.
Never mind that they showed him the door back in December.
"It's always difficult when you've obviously made an error," Alexander said. "We made an error in letting him go. I think we rectified it now.
"I think the spotlight's important. We're gonna be on national TV now because of Jeremy and I think free agents want to be on teams that are in the national spotlight. So I think from a basketball standpoint we really improve our negotiations with many, many free agents."